


Forever And A Day

by Sapphire_blue



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, R plus L equals J
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-16
Updated: 2015-05-16
Packaged: 2018-03-30 18:48:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,709
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3947737
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sapphire_blue/pseuds/Sapphire_blue
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It hits him then, this sharp, acute longing to stay like this forever, with her in his arms. He shakily reaches out to turn off the lamp, and the darkness abruptly engulfs them like a well-loved blanket. He feels the warmth seeping from Arya’s skin into his, and whispers, “I think I am falling in love with you, and I am absolutely terrified.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Forever And A Day

Aunt Daenerys and Aegon have gone to stay with the Martells at Dorne for Christmas. When they invite Jon to come with them, Jon politely declines. Before settling into the campus life, Jon had lived with his aunt and half-brother for a year. But before that though, he had lived with the Starks. Uncle Ned and Aunt Catelyn practically raised him after his parents’ untimely demise, and Jon had grown up with his cousins. The Starks have been his family longer than Aunt Daenerys, and Aegon, who had been raised by their Aunt in a small town called Mereen in India. And Stark Manor has been his home long before his Aunt and Aegon moved into Dragonstone a few towns over. So, politely declining their invitation, Jon comes home with Robb on their Christmas break. After almost two years away, except for a few visits before starting university with his cousin, he misses home. And judging by the way Robb's face has lightened up, he does too.

He has barely stepped inside the manor before he is almost knocked off his feet by a blur of pale skin and brown hair.

"Jon!" Arya wraps her arms around him, and he holds onto her tight, burying his face into her hair.

He breathes her in and his hold on her tightens just slightly, " _Gods_ , I've missed you!"

Robb grumbles good-naturedly from beside him, "Hello! Big Brother Robb's here too!"

Arya glances at him from Jon's arms and rolls her eyes, "Tone down the theatrics, Robb."

Robb's mouth falls open in shock , but before he can say anything, Arya beats him to it, "Where's your boyfriend, anyway?"

Jon laughs as Robb sputters, "Theon actually does have a home, you know."

Jon opens his mouth at the same time as Arya does, perhaps to refute that Theon spends more time at the Stark Manor than he ever has at his own house, but before they can speak, Catelyn Stark swoops in on them with all her maternal glory, Sansa hot on her heels.

Jon looks at Arya properly then, and notices the dark circles under her eyes. She looks tired, he realizes. He wants to ask her about it, but before he can voice anything, Aunt Catelyn starts fussing over Jon as Sansa leaps into Robb's arms. And as he hugs Sansa, he smiles smugly at Jon and Arya, "At least Sansa loves her big brother."

Jon and Arya reply in unison, "Shut up, Robb," before they are all swept into a massive hug by Catelyn.

 

*   *   *

 

"So I hear you have a boyfriend?" Jon asks her as he unpacks in his room.

Seated on top of his reading table with her legs swinging, Arya balks, "Where did you hear _that_?”

“Sansa talks to Robb,” Jon shrugs, “That’s not the point though. You’re too young to have a boyfriend!”

Arya hops off the table to stand beside him by his bed, and pokes him in the ribs, hard, “I am almost _seventeen_ , Jon!”

Jon pauses in his unpacking and winces at the way her nails dig into his skin despite the layers of clothing, “Still too young.”

She scowls at him then, “And remind me how old were _you_ when you dated Ygritte?”

“That was different,” he mutters.

“It really wasn’t,” Arya smirks at him, “Anyway, I don’t have a boyfriend. Not anymore, at least.”

Jon frowns at the way he almost releases a relieved sigh, “What happened?”

“We broke up, obviously,” Arya explains in her you’re-an-idiot-and-why-do-I-even-bother voice.

Jon resumes his unpacking then, “That wasn’t what I meant, and you know it. Is that why you look so tired? You have dark circles, Arya.”

“A real charmer, that’s what you are. You sure know how to make me feel pretty. And Edric and I are better off as friends, as we mutually decided. Not worth losing my sleep over.” she sighs and looks at the way he’s still unpacking, “ _Jesus fucking Christ_ , Jon, how long does it take you to unpack?”

Still curious but unwilling to provoke her ire (He still has the bite mark from when Arya was eleven, and he refused to let her use him as a jungle gym, and he would rather not repeat the experience, _thank you very much_ ), Jon lets the change in subject go overlooked, “I would have been done long ago if _someone_ hadn’t decided to distract me!”

The moment the words are out, he realizes his mistake. Arya looks up at him smugly, “I distract you now then, do I?”

Jon groans and resists the urge to rub his forehead, “Any chance you would forget I said that?”

Arya laughs at him then, the sound bright and happy and filling his heart with something warm and unfamiliar. His hands crave to trace her lips before he shoves down the thought ruthlessly.

When he glances at Arya, he finds her looking at him strangely, but she answers nonetheless, “Never, dear cousin, never!”

 

*   *   *

 

“Where’s Theon, Robb?” Ned Stark asks after they have all said grace and started piling up their plates with heaps of Catelyn’s cooking.

Arya and Jon snort and then look at each other before laughing. Robb glares at them both before replying to his father, “Asha and he went to visit their Uncle at Pyke.”

Ned nods, and then asks Sansa to pass the salt.

Dinner is a pleasant affair. Robb and Jon talk about how they are settling in with the university life, Sansa talks about her book club, Bran quotes something from a book every now and then, and Rickon regales them with stories of his best friend Shireen and how he is her knight. Through it all, Jon notices that Arya is quiet. And that worries him. Quietness and Arya don’t go hand in hand. He resolves to ask her after dinner, but she’s long gone into her room by the time he has finished.

 

*   *   *

 

Jon hesitates in front of her door. It’s almost midnight, she is most likely asleep. Jon wonders what exactly he is doing here, standing in front of Arya’s door long after everyone has gone to bed. He, himself, had retired for the night too, but sleep refused to come, and after hours of tossing and turning, he has found himself wanting to speak to her. He surreptitiously looks around the hallway; it wouldn't bode well if someone catches him here so late into the night. He wonders if Arya will be okay with being woken up by him at midnight. He remembers a time when they could stay up all night talking and laughing and he wonders when everything got so bloody complicated.

Shifting from foot to foot, he decides to hell with propriety and knocks on her door. Arya has never been proper, and she wouldn't care about propriety at all. He has barely knocked a second time before the door is wrenched open. Arya pulls him in quickly before shutting the door.

Her room is only illuminated by the table lamp by her bed, but the light is bright enough to let Jon look around her room with unashamed curiosity. He has not been in here for quite a while, and he is disconcerted to find it different from what he remembers. For one, one of the walls that was once a lovely shade of blue is now barely visible beneath picture frames and medals. _Arya fences_ , he suddenly remembers.

“So you’re good at fencing, I’m guessing?” Jon gestures towards the medals.

Arya smirks at him, wide awake, “Master Forel says I’m his best student.”

“And the pictures?” He motions towards the frames. As far as he can see, they are pictures of mundane things that one typically takes in for granted but they look enchanting captured in frames.

“I like photography,” Arya shrugs, “And do sit down. Don’t just stand there in the middle of the room. My bed does not bite.”

Jon almost says, “ _But you do_ ,” before thinking better of it. He plops down on the bed, the soft mattress cushioning his fall. He stares up at the ceiling, and feels the mattress dip when Arya climbs up next to him, resting her head on his outstretched arms.

“Are you here just to sleep in my bed or do you want to actually talk?” Her voice is curious, and he looks sideways to find her staring at him.

“I missed you, you know,” he admits, “I guess I just want to make up for lost time.”

“You came to visit after you moved in with Daenerys,” she reminds him, “We talked then.”

“Three or four times. And even then, you were too busy with your fencing tournaments,” Jon says.

“Yeah, I suppose I was,” Arya mutters, “Why are you up this late anyway?”

“Couldn’t sleep,” He confesses, “You?”

Arya sighs, “Yeah, I couldn’t sleep either.”

“Why?”

“I dunno. Nightmares, mostly,” she cranes her neck up to lever her face with his, their faces so close that he can count the freckles splattered across her cheeks and see himself reflected in her stormy grey eyes, and it makes his heart stutter, “Will you stay tonight? Maybe I’ll get some sleep if you’re here.”

He nods, because he’s never been good at saying no to her.

“Tell me a story, then,” Arya orders, scooting up even closer to him, if such a thing is possible. He knows he ought to distance himself, for his own sake if nothing else, but Arya needs him, and even after almost two years away, Jon is powerless against her.

So instead, he starts telling her about the time Robb ran stark naked across the campus on a dare from Grenn, and how the campus police almost caught it. When he has finished the story, he looks down at her only to find her soundly sleeping. She looks _peaceful_ , he thinks, _and so_ _beautiful_.

It hits him then, this sharp, acute longing to stay like this forever, with her in his arms. He shakily reaches out to turn off the lamp, and the darkness abruptly engulfs them like a well-loved blanket. He feels the warmth seeping from Arya’s skin into his, and whispers, “I think I am falling in love with you, and I am absolutely terrified.”

**Author's Note:**

> I absolutely adore Jon and Arya and the relationship they have between them. And I'm thrilled that there has been a spike in the new Jon/Arya fics recently. To all those writing those absolutely wonderful fics, thank you! And to those reading it, well, thank you very _very_ much! I hope you liked this story, and just to let you know, every read, every kudos, and every comment is appreciated.
> 
> Love,  
> Sapphire xx


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